EDITORIAL: Ethics fix: A win for Floridians

Published: Wednesday, May 8, 2013 at 10:19 AM.

Gov. Rick Scott signed into law last week a sweeping ethics bill, and we’ve been puzzling over who deserves a bigger pat on the back. Is it Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, who had made ethics reform a top priority? Or is it the people of Florida, who stand to benefit if tighter ethics rules lead to better government?

Sen. Gaetz did a superlative job, no doubt about it. But Floridians are the big winners.

Under the new ethics law, the Florida Commission on Ethics will have more power to collect fines from public officials who have misbehaved. The panel will be able to garnish wages, and it’ll have 20 years — five times the current limit — to go after unpaid fines.

In March, the Daily News reported that almost 20 current or former officeholders in Okaloosa, Walton and Santa Rosa counties hadn’t paid state fines dating back to 2003. The fines, mostly for failing to file financial reports on time, ranged up to $1,500.

If politicians don’t take ethics fines seriously enough to pay them, they probably don’t take any ethics rules seriously. The new law will give the Ethics Commission sharper teeth.

The law also requires that officials’ financial disclosure forms be posted online for easier public access.

It prohibits legislators from lobbying any state agency for two years after they leave office.

It prohibits legislators from taking new government jobs while they’re still in office.

It prohibits legislators from voting on bills that could directly affect their own finances.

The governor also signed a bill raising campaign contribution limits. The limit now is $500 per contributor per election for all offices. It’ll go up to $1,000 for local and legislative races and $3,000 for statewide races — but candidates will have to file more frequent reports on who contributed the money and how it was spent.

All in all, the new laws should create a more transparent state government, one that’s more accountable to the public. Good news all around.

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Gov. Rick Scott signed into law last week a sweeping ethics bill, and we’ve been puzzling over who deserves a bigger pat on the back. Is it Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, who had made ethics reform a top priority? Or is it the people of Florida, who stand to benefit if tighter ethics rules lead to better government?

Sen. Gaetz did a superlative job, no doubt about it. But Floridians are the big winners.

Under the new ethics law, the Florida Commission on Ethics will have more power to collect fines from public officials who have misbehaved. The panel will be able to garnish wages, and it’ll have 20 years — five times the current limit — to go after unpaid fines.

In March, the Daily News reported that almost 20 current or former officeholders in Okaloosa, Walton and Santa Rosa counties hadn’t paid state fines dating back to 2003. The fines, mostly for failing to file financial reports on time, ranged up to $1,500.

If politicians don’t take ethics fines seriously enough to pay them, they probably don’t take any ethics rules seriously. The new law will give the Ethics Commission sharper teeth.

The law also requires that officials’ financial disclosure forms be posted online for easier public access.

It prohibits legislators from lobbying any state agency for two years after they leave office.

It prohibits legislators from taking new government jobs while they’re still in office.

It prohibits legislators from voting on bills that could directly affect their own finances.

The governor also signed a bill raising campaign contribution limits. The limit now is $500 per contributor per election for all offices. It’ll go up to $1,000 for local and legislative races and $3,000 for statewide races — but candidates will have to file more frequent reports on who contributed the money and how it was spent.

All in all, the new laws should create a more transparent state government, one that’s more accountable to the public. Good news all around.